


Shattered Starlight

by little_shinra



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Steven Universe Fusion, Amnesia, Assault, Companions, Cracked Gems, Emotional Hurt, Gen, Head Injury, Healing, Mental Instability, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Relationships, Secrets, Separations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 19:54:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16646687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_shinra/pseuds/little_shinra
Summary: When a gift becomes a mistake...





	1. The Present Day

**Author's Note:**

> This story is self indulgent and therefore I must elaborate that this AU story is _inspired_ by Steven Universe (especially given the recent story developments and theories), so it does use a lot of its elements surrounding gems, but don't strictly follow the show's universe rules. The characters will behave as themselves and not as the show's characters of their roles.
> 
> One day, I more or less went, "I want Yusuke in White Diamond's dress", then it evolved to imagining Joker/Protag as White Pearl and suddenly I was attaching the human Phantom Thieves and Akechi to the official Diamonds of the SU show along with their corresponding Pearls. And then the story to my imagining WP!Joker's state came to form.

On every cycle of the blue moon, the diamond authorities would come together. They would discuss the status of the home world, the progress of their work and the management of the gems that resided there. Evaluating their duties and extending advice when a solution wasn’t easily acquired. Often, it was to keep up to date with each other, as their respective roles kept them relatively apart most days.

The diamonds circled around a table, discussing and jesting with one another as they routinely do.

Their Pearls stood by the wall, mingling among themselves in their own corner of the room, keeping their activities low so to not disrupt their diamonds.

Compared to the numbers of diamonds, there were less pearls. In the past, this was a silent but blatant light on Akechi, who used to lack a pearl, and his place in the room surrounded by the other diamonds. Another thing that could be ticked at him among an already substantial list. His current one was standing courteously among the more energetic of the gems, her calm demeanor considerably preferable for company as he’d found over time. He mentally paired each of them to a diamond in the room. Yellow to yellow, blue to blue, pink to his own pink, until he was left on the one lone diamond.

The diamond in question had kept his back to him the whole meeting, glancing when Akechi appeared to be occupied. Akechi would just smile at him and the White Diamond would turn away, instead of smiling in return and waving him over to join them. Akechi decided not to pay it mind.

Amidst the buzz of conversation, Akechi, the youngest diamond, turned to Yusuke and asked, “My diamond, where is your pearl?”

The question was met with room filled silence. Futaba then chimed in.

“We’re still waiting for the next harvest for new pearls. The highest quality take a deal of time, so we haven’t acquired him a suitable new one.”

“Ah, I see. Must be challenging to manage your duties without help-”

“I’ve managed,” Yusuke spoke curtly, ending the conversation. Akechi didn’t push the matter. He knew the hint when given to him.


	2. Chapter 2

The young diamond observed gems from a distance. Through his window above them, he felt the physical distance matched the invisible one put between him.

His pearl stood nearby, calmly waiting for his next command. He wore the colors Akechi had; whites and pale reds, hinted in gold. Akechi didn’t have much of an idea of what to do with it. His image of his life here was conceived with only him in mind, without any plan or intention of a space for another. Yet, the gems here managed to throw that off.

The White Diamond, Yusuke, had developed the habit of approaching him to chat. Akechi couldn’t help but take him with suspicion. The idea of an authentic diamond having a genuine interest in a false gem like him, he couldn’t fathom it.

He was of an experimental line created outside of the home world. Manufactured gems with no slates written in, just blank bodies. He was “technically” a diamond.

Yet, the diamond kept going. And then he gave him the pearl. _What was he playing at?_

The gems he watched went their separate ways. Yusuke happened to look up and, upon seeing Akechi in the window, gave a friendly wave. Akechi pulled away from sight, miffed at the gesture.

“My diamond, do you need anything?” Akechi jumped at the closeness of his pearl’s voice.

“No! Just…be quiet,” Akechi’s face reddened. No doubt that White Diamond will be coming up here. Time he made himself scarce. “Let’s just go.”

“Alright.”

~

Ren watched his diamond's back as they went further into the building, toward a quiet area that became such a routine, Ren could tune out and still make it there without loss of direction.

As a pearl, he knew he was expected to be the extended hand of his diamond, to be his aid in his duties. He knew that he was also to be a confidant. He was only just born when he was given to his diamond, barely with time to interact with other pearls since Akechi seemed to keep his interactions with other diamonds strictly to their meetings and nowhere else, save for White Diamond’s visits. He wondered if a Pearl was also meant to feel his diamond’s heart as though it were part of his. Ren felt things, terrible storms of emotions kept inside an unpresuming, curious smile.  They weren’t his. Ren did not know what names to give them. Just his worry over their eroding nature on his diamond’s heart.

He looked back to the end of the corridor.

“White Diamond is coming. Do you wish to speak to him?”

Akechi sighed, exasperated. They made it to a door and entered through. “No. And I told you to be quiet.”

“Sorry.”

~

Akechi went to the window seat at the wall opposite the door and sat down, bringing his legs to his chest. He leaned against the glass, pressing his forehead into it. The home world he saw outside was clean, efficient, and suitable in its architecture. It was what he expected when he came here. He expected rationality and the hanging, silent truth of the roles of its residents. The place and role that he knew he would have. Nothing would change the birth he came out of.

A manufactured diamond is as common as a pearl. Of lesser value to the authentic diamonds he watched from below. They’re just cheap.

Ren placed a hand on Akechi’s shoulder, the latter shoving it away.

“My diamond, perhaps if you talked to me, I could help you with what’s bothering you.”

Akechi stood to his full height. Ren stepped back.

 _Why is he so persistent? Why him too? Why did they have to keep reaching?_ It’s just for nothing. There’s nothing to be had from a mass produced, manufactured gem like him.

It felt good when Akechi's hands wrapped around the other’s neck.

Even though they were such cheap things, _he_ had the audacity of a personality, a self.

Fractures formed under his hands.

“My diamond, please! I’ll break!”

Ren was released onto the floor and Akechi took a few steps away, his back to the pearl. Ren coughed, his hands gingerly touching his neck.

“I’m sorry, I just need something to vent,” Akechi turned around, weapon in hand. “You’ll do perfectly.”

Ren scrambled back.

..

Yusuke entered the building with his pearl following along. She stood at his side, her colors matching the starry hues of his pale and nightly sky clothes. When the pair made it to the window Yusuke saw Akechi, the seat was found empty. His pearl, Haru, looked around and, after checking with a couple things, then directed the way the pink diamond went.

He hadn't spoken to Akechi for a long while since the younger took on the pearl, and he wanted to see how Ren was developing (partially for the sake of getting Futaba off his back with her persistent questions that he had no answer to). Yusuke very much missed their chats above all else; he wished to catch up.

“Do you wish for me to join you inside, Yusuke?” The two approached the door leading to the room supposedly occupied by Akechi and Ren.

The diamond touched Haru’s cheek and told her to wait in the hall, promising that he'll have Ren join her shortly once he's checked him. He entered the room, the door resealing behind him.

“Goro-” The words he was going to speak caught in his throat.

Akechi pulled the tip of his weapon out of his pearl, phasing it back into his gem stone. Through a curtain of hair, he stared back at the diamond. His eyes were wide, but not of surprise at being caught. They were distant, mind so far focused on the task at hand, it slowed on the return to the present. Yusuke was frozen in place, and the eyes changed to a swirl of malice and delight.

“Oh, White Diamond.”

Yusuke forced his gaze down. He didn’t know what was worse to witness: that expression Akechi made or the remains of the pearl at his feet.

Ren's color had bled out, leaving him faded and colorless as the walls surrounding them. Pieces of his head scattered on the floor like wrecked stone. His open eyes took nothing in. In fact, fractures and chips were everywhere on the pearl. He was on his stomach, arm extended toward the door; his other arm and legs broken apart, cracks adding to the others across his skin. The entire frame of the body was beginning to shutter, unraveling the illusion of light that made it.

Yusuke gasped in horror.

“Goro, what have you done?”

Akechi looked at him with an innocent stare.

“I was displeased, so I punished him.”

“You smashed him! That’s not what you do to your Pearl!” He made his way to the body.

“But aren’t Pearls simply furniture? There to be pretty and satisfy a Diamond’s needs?”

“ _Companions_. They’re meant to be companions.”

Yusuke placed his hand on the pearl’s head and dispelled his body, leaving his cracked gem stone behind. Akechi knelt beside it and Yusuke swiped the gem before the other could take it.

The White Diamond rose to his feet and backed away to the door. Akechi simply watched him, not getting up from his spot. Yusuke felt around behind him, unsealing the door, and left without looking back.

The young diamond looked around. The floor was clean of any pieces of the pearl. The evidence of what transpired absent, like it never happened.

Akechi felt at ease, _freed_ for the first time. He ran a hand across the clean floor, and he thought to himself,

_So, he did have a use after all._

-

Yusuke ran the pad of his thumb over the edging of the gem, searching for any malformation left behind. The cracks Akechi made were mended, leaving the pearl stone smooth and flawless on its surface. In front of him, like a hologram only he could see, was the Pearl in the form it birthed in on the day of its harvest.

Yusuke could see the forms of gems inside their stones, asleep in their protective shells till they awakened again, image fully realized. If he wished, he could influence it as they awakened. However, he found the gem’s choice of form more fascinating and more beautiful to witness, so he rarely if ever used that ability.

Finding he had been fidgeting enough with it, Haru managed to persuade him to rest the stone on the bed. And still, Yusuke worried over what to do next. He had never seen a gem smashed like that, not by the hand of another. The image of the scene he walked in on was burned into the back of his eyes. He couldn’t bear closing them. And Yusuke shivered at the memory of Akechi’s eyes.

Haru took over and adjusted the bed. Over the millennia she’s been his pearl, she was familiar with his quiet moments, his unbridled excitement around the others, the perceived oddity of his attachment to other gems (herself especially), and in this case, his need to mend when something is damaged. It would consume him and leave little room in his mind to give to anything else, leaving it to her to pull him back to reality. It was a duty he felt compelled to do and it drained him when left unrestrained.

The gem was repaired, so other matters needed to be tended to. Hopefully, the process would ease the fear and uncertainty that was hanging over his head since what happened. When they had left, Yusuke barely slowed down, keeping her close to his side with the stone clutched in his hand. It wasn’t till they came back to his room that she saw what he was going to do and pieced together what had transpired. All the residual frantic energy needed to go somewhere now. He’s probably thought it, but it needed to be said.

“For now, we should focus on what we will do next,” Haru said. “What will you do when he awakens? Where will you send him?”

Yusuke didn’t speak initially. “We’ll keep him here. Even if he’s intact, I won’t hand him back to Akechi. I don’t know what was put in his mind, what was done is unjustifiable. Haru, make sure he doesn’t take Ren back, and keep your distance from him.”

“Understood.”

A bright light shone behind them, covering the sheets and filling the room. The stone elevated from the bed, bending its light, and the Pearl’s body reformed into a solid piece, free of the breakage from the event. He did not wake and on the right side of his head, the branches of fractures remained. Yusuke ran his hand over them.

"How?" he breathed.

“Shall I fetch Blue Diamond?” Haru suggested.

“That would be helpful. Please do so.”  

..

When she arrived, Futaba was immersed in the newest harvest numbers on her visual panel, wide eyed and giggling with glee. Yusuke noted the absence of her Pearl and guessed she was on the other end of the data streamlining to Futaba’s hands. He poked her on the forehead.

“Futaba.”

“Yes yes yes,” she brushed it off and turned her attention to the gem in question. Her smile dropped. “Dang, he really did a number.”

“He reformed that way. It was far worse when I found them.”

“Huh,” she poked at him, leaning closer. “Even his color is gone. _Interesting_...”

Yusuke pulled her over by the arm. He recognized that tone whenever her curiosity was going to get the better of her.

“The task at hand, Futaba.”

“Well, there’s not much for me to look at. Yeah, the fractures are odd given a gem can just make a new body. But there’s no breaks on his gemstone. Seems you did enough to mend the fractures where it was needed. All we can do is wait now for him to wake up.”

She noted the look on his face and poked him on the cheek. “Cheer up. You worry too much.”

He looked at the prodding appendage and made the motion to bite it. Futaba instinctively bounced back, the smile stretching from ear to ear. Yusuke didn’t share her feeling of banter.

“It’s not just him that worries me. It’s what we should do about Akechi.”

..

Futaba waved him farewell as she headed for the door. “I’ll let you know when the next harvest is due, _and_ make sure you get the best seat to witness all the new gems.”

Yusuke blushed and waved her away. Futaba’s chipper grin came on again. The two loved witnessing the births at gem harvests. Her, for the stats they developed in their slumber, and him, for the gems’ physical visions of themselves. And if she figured he needed something to distract himself, it was seeing all that life after such an encounter with a death.

“Oh.”

Standing at the door before Futaba was Akechi, smiling to them. Haru made herself scarce behind a pillar.

“Akechi, what are you doing here?” Yusuke said.

“I was wondering when I’d have him back.”

The other two diamonds looked to one another.

“What do you mean?”

“My pearl. I’m under the impression he was repaired.”

 _How long was he listening?_ “I’m sorry, but he will not be returned to you. The damage you inflicted was irreparable.”

“Then will I have another?”

Yusuke gave an incredulous smile. “I fail to see why. You have proven to be adept to your duties without the need of a pearl.”

“As I recall, you are the one who told me: _A diamond needs a pearl_ ,” he reminded, smiling with anticipation.

Yusuke cursed himself. He stole a glance to the next room holding the unconscious Ren. The two of them have no idea of the depths Akechi's actions left except the fractures had remained, even with Yusuke’s healing. Whether they will be permanent was a mystery. Yusuke hesitated.

_It would not be wise to leave him unattended._

But there are no other pearls he could possibly give.

_There is one…_

But if it happens again, he’d never forgive himself.

“ _White Diamond_?”

His hands tightened into fists.

“I will…have another sent to you in due time. However…” he stared him directly in the eye, “This time I expect you to control your temper and not smash this one.”

That seemed to put a damper on the younger’s energy.

“Of course, White Diamond. I look forward to it.”

And with that, Akechi exited with Futaba back to the hubs outside. Haru emerged from her hiding spot.

“Yusuke, are you sure?”

Yusuke rubbed his hands over his face. “Haru, I am so sorry.”

“If this is what you feel is best, then it is fine by me. I’m sure an older Pearl like myself will be a better fit for the time being while we figure this out.”

“After seeing what he’d done, I question whether there is anything that _can_ be figured out. This only happened because I thought I knew the answer to his circumstances. I gathered a glimpse behind a veil I didn’t realize he carried. It was dangerous, Haru, and I fear giving him any gem. Especially you.”

“Then, I will suggest you turn your worries into trusting me,” She pulled his hands down. “We have made plenty of tough decisions in the past. This one is no different.”

“None of them involved putting your life on the line-!”

She silenced him.

“Your initial wish will still hold. I will keep myself at a safe distance, all while doing what I can with my experience to bring Pink Diamond to a better state. For everyone’s sake.”

The two looked at each other, one hoping to dissuade the other in a silent battle of endurance. Yusuke was the one to relent, the weight of dread he carried becoming heavier on his heart. He took her face in his hands.

“As…a pearl, make sure he behaves. Most of all, please, keep yourself safe, should he decide to repeat his actions.”

“Yes, my diamond. Yusuke,” And she made a gesture of formality she hadn’t used toward him in centuries; she folded her arms, so the tips of her fingers met, forming the diamond salute.

-

Back in his room, Yusuke slid heavily into a chair and looked out on the glowing sky line in the night. He thought back to the conversations among the other diamonds.

They all agreed. If Akechi had such a hidden malice in him, he could not be left alone. Adamant he was in refusing to assign another gem to him so soon, the truth was as unyielding as well. They need eyes on him, a means of monitoring his movements so another crisis could be averted immediately. It was that or take the extreme punishment on him.

It left Yusuke feeling as if he was being pulled in two opposing directions: deal with Akechi efficiently or make attempts to salvage and improve the situation. And Yusuke refused to let him be shattered. It was too cruel to destroy a gem.

He wished there was an easier way for all of this. Never had he imagined that he’d ever separate from Haru, nor what he saw in that room.

His mind spun and spun, trying to make ideas connect when they couldn’t be more different. It cycled through what Yusuke witnessed and what he could see on the first day Akechi came to their home world.

Disconnect.

Disconnect.

The two Akechis couldn’t be the same.

A young diamond has little to their person when they first come into the world. They had large gaps to fill left by those before them and till they filled them, it was an isolating experience. Akechi was already made less than he was when he came to the home world to fill the void left by a diamond that never rebirthed there. Yusuke could see that.

Having a pearl was valuable company to a diamond, a life preserver to Yusuke. And with so little for Akechi to have as his for who knows how long into the future, giving such a gift only seemed appropriate. Yusuke wanted to help the young diamond of that day, that carried the burdens with an unaffected smile.

Now he was horrified.

Now he dreaded that doing it again would not mend the diamond that he saw vanish in that room, and he would only find another shattered pearl at his feet.

He would find…

 _Haru_ …

Destroyed…

A sob escaped him. Yusuke put his face in his hands, his physical being emptied of everything except for one thing.

Helpless. That’s what it was.

This situation left him feeling  _helpless_.

A ruffle from across the room startled him. Rubbing his eyes clear, he stood up and went to Ren’s bed. The pearl stirred. An eye opened, the other closed shut under the fractures. Yusuke knelt next to him and touched his arm.

“Ren… How are you?”

The fractured pearl stared for a moment, then smiled with joy and reached out to him.

“My diamond.”

Yusuke felt cold wash over him. _His diamond? What pearl would mistake that?_

“Are you sure?” Yusuke asked. The smile changed to confusion.

“I am? You are the first I see with my eyes. I have awakened in a new world and I feel it inside me, that you are the diamond I serve,” Yusuke’s face must’ve tipped him off, for he added, “My diamond, what’s wrong? You are pale.”

Yusuke turned away, covering his mouth.

Oh god, what has he done? Has he warped the memory in his repairs, replaced the imprint of his original diamond?

“Your name. Please tell me what it is.”

“I don’t have a name,” the pearl replied.

How was all this possible? He did everything he could. Futaba stated herself there didn’t seem to be anything wrong on the gem stone. He’s never seen a gem restore like this. Do those cracks on his face anything to do with his memory?

“Do you remember anything before you woke? Maybe a dream?” Yusuke questioned in haste.

“No…”

Yusuke had his face back in his hands. It was all too much. If only Haru could stay…

“Not possible…” he mumbled.

Yusuke noticed Ren's hand leaning on his shoulder as the pearl hummed a simple song behind him, both eyes closed. 

“You’re fretting, my diamond. I thought a little music would help.”

Yusuke felt like he was going to crumble in front of the naïve pearl. He patted Ren’s hand.

“Just… call me Yusuke,” he swallowed. “There’s no need to be so formal.”

The door opened and Haru peeked her head in.

“Ah, you two haven’t met yet,” Yusuke waved her over, his expression silently conveying to her the situation. Haru widened her smile at Ren. “This is Haru. She is a Pearl, just as you are.”

Ren tilted his head at her, brow furrowed as he was trying to place something. Yusuke brightened, his hope that it could spark his memory fleeting when Ren returned to his blank expression.

“She’ll show you the ropes while she’s still here,” Yusuke stood at his full height, hand on Haru’s shoulder. Ren looked back at her.

“You’re not staying?”

She shook her head. “I will be returning to serve my diamond once I’m done here.”

The male Pearl noticed the shadow on his diamond’s face returned, along with something else. Haru took Ren’s hands in hers, distracting him.

“I hope we become real good friends.”

Ren smiled and nodded.

-

Haru giggled as Ren followed her every move, seeing it like having an Aquamarine toddle behind in awe of an older sibling. She would pretend not to notice, sometimes making an intentional move to catch him mimic it. When he realized her teasing, he would blush and straighten up like a board. Haru would ruffle his hair and playfully apologized, then instructing him more formally on his next task.

Yusuke watched them as they would dance together, with Haru leading the duet, leaving his work unattended. He didn’t resist the smile growing across his face. Then Haru noticed. Without losing her own smile, she scolded him for neglecting it, putting him back on track.

As Yusuke worked, Haru nudged Ren further away from him. When she felt they were far enough, she leaned over and whispered in his ear. “Promise me something. Don’t ever let Yusuke overstrain himself. When a gem is at their limit and they don’t stop, they lose their form and the stress can damage them. They take so much longer to come out of their stones. Yusuke tends to forget his limits and lose himself in the task. Keep an eye on him, always.”

“Is being a diamond such a burden?”

“Some more than others. I’m not completely sure. But I have seen enough that we Pearls are exceedingly important to our diamond’s health and wellbeing. That is the most important task we must fulfill. Do you understand?”

Ren nodded. The corners of Haru’s lips curled up and she takes his hands into hers.

“It’s been a pleasure to know you, Ren.”

His head tilted. “Is that my name? Whi- Yusuke has called me that as well.”

Haru’s smile warmed. “Yes, it always has been.”

“Why are you two all the way over there?” Yusuke said.

Haru turned at him and put her hand to her face. “Petty gossip to occupy ourselves.”

“Hopefully nothing terrible,” he touched his chin, pondered, and held his arms out to them. “Come back over.”

As the two returned to his side, he took them both in his arms.

The sight of them warmed his heart, easing the turmoil that brought them together. If it could last forever like this, he’d be content. But it couldn’t continue. Time was running short for them. Yusuke had to make good to his promise, regardless of his feelings.

He beheld them with a believable smile. He gestured to Ren.

“Here, your hand.”

Yusuke took it, turning it so their palms pressed together. Color streamed in, filling in the bleached monochrome of Ren’s skin with highlights of icy blue and the midnight hues of the starry sky, matching him with his new diamond like Haru.

Ren held his hands out, his eye wide. He touched Haru’s arm.

“Just like you now,” he breathed. Haru simply gave her smile and said nothing. Ren felt the air between them strain, and something prick in his heart. He looked to Yusuke and noticed the diamond wouldn’t look him in the eye.


	3. Separation

_It was a beautiful sight that day, seeing a young diamond receive his pearl. Akechi just gaped, not knowing what to make of Ren, the latter only smiling as he let Akechi take him in. Yusuke showed him how to give his pearl his color. The pearl became red and white, with hints of gold, like his diamond. Akechi couldn’t say a word._

_Yusuke thought that this would give Akechi a needed ease out of his shell. To help him feel that he did belong as a Diamond._

What a terrible mistake he created.

-

On the day he passed Haru to Akechi, he made sure to change her form and removed his colors from her. He hugged her tightly, till she had to wiggle herself out, so she could leave.

Ren watched them from the window, noting the heaviness in his diamond’s shoulders as he let the other pearl go. When he focused on his reflection in the glass, he could see the cracks that covered across his face and eye. He touched them and wondered.

_Was I meant to replace her? …What happened to me?_

When his diamond returned, the silence heavy, he sat beside Yusuke and asked if he needed anything. Yusuke just smiled and patted Ren’s head. His hand wandered down to the fractures, rubbing his thumb across one that trailed on his cheek.

“Your company is what I need right now. It’s more than enough.”

“Yes, my dia-… Yusuke.”

**Author's Note:**

> I have the characters assigned as such to these gems:
> 
> White Diamond - Yusuke  
> Blue Diamond - Futaba  
> Yellow Diamond - Ann  
> Pink Diamond - Akechi
> 
> White Pearl - Joker/Protag  
> Blue Pearl - Makoto  
> Yellow Pearl - Ryuji  
> Pink Pearl - Haru


End file.
